Camden field of crosses is a vital reminder of the state's other crisis: Editorial

Janet Mercado shows her daughter Jaidah, 1, a cross bearing the name of her best friend's son, Jose Viera, 26, who was gunned down in July. The cross is one of many in front of Camden City Hall.Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger

One of the many makeshift crosses that now stand across from Camden City Hall says simply, “This isn’t Normal.”

Which is exactly the point. One of these crosses represents a 6-year-old boy, whose throat was slashed as he defended his 12-year-old sister against an intruder’s sexual assault. Another is for toddler who was decapitated by his mother while she was high on drugs.

Those stories elicited widespread outrage. But countless others don’t: The innocent teenager shot in the face at a fried chicken restaurant. The man felled by a stray bullet while walking home from 7-Eleven with his wife. These are the unintended victims, caught in the crossfire of gun-blazing punks, often in broad daylight.

Much of this field is for them. There’s a cross for every one of the 61 homicide victims the city has seen this year — a badly needed reminder that, with all due respect to Hurricane Sandy, there are other emergencies in this state.
Camden is probably the worst. It was already the poorest, most dangerous city in the nation. Then, it recently broke its single-year homicide record set in 1995, when 58 people were murdered.

We must attack this street war on multiple fronts — with better teamwork between county and state law enforcement, more efficient policing with regional forces and critical funding from state and federal governments.
The new countywide police force, to be formed next year, is a good start. It will employ about 400 officers, more than the 262 the city has now. It was the best solution after Camden’s local police union refused to make major concessions, forcing the layoffs of 163 cops.

The county force will also employ more than twice as many civilians for jobs such as monitoring security cameras, the gunshot detection system and data identifying high crime areas.

Yes, this is union-busting. But Camden is in such a crisis that normal rules must be set aside. On any given day, about 30 percent of the city’s cops don’t show for duty, whether because of sickness, vacation or low morale.

Rep. Rob Andrews (D-1st District) has requested more federal officers to help staunch the flow of illegal guns to Camden. But that’s been delayed by budget issues, and our state troopers are stretched thin, managing Hurricane Sandy recovery.

So what this city needs right now are cops on the street. The county police force agreement must be finalized immediately between the state, city and county, and approved by the Camden City Council. Then the state will advance the needed start-up funds.

Any delay means these crosses will multiply. Sandy wrecked our communities, causing so much physical property damage. But these are human lives lost: Time to make Camden our priority.